Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders T/C vs CVA

Getting ready to purchase my first M/L for deer hunting here in Indiana. Have narrowed it down to either the T/C Omega or CVA Kodiak (same style rifles).

Question...is the $130 extra the T/C cost worth the money, or will the CVA meet my needs?

Thanks

Greg

In my opinion, the T/C is worth the extra $$ in fit, finish, support,
and accuracy, but the CVA will certainly get you a deer if that
is your ultimate goal. If you are just getting into muzzle loading
and aren't sure that you'll be sticking with it, I'd recommend trying
the less expensive route first to see if it "lights your fire". If
you are pretty sure that you want to stick with it, I think that
you'll be able to achieve better accuracy with the T/C in the
long run.

No question TC...their lifetime warranty and high resale value make it the best quality / lowest risk choice

T/C Omega is the #1 Consumer-Satisfied ML the past two years.



As a bonus, T/C offers new firearm purchasers the best warranty in the entire firearms industry.

As noted on an earlier thread, I bought the TC Omega. I never seriously considered the CVA. To ask if the Omega is $130 better is a pretty tough question.

After spending some 42 years on the planet, I have learned one basic thing about hunting gear. When I'm in the woods, it doesn't matter how much I spent; what matters is how the gear works.

Is a CVA good enough? Sure. Is it the better rifle? No. Is the difference worth $130? It depends. The Omega is an easy to handle rifle backed by a solid company and "no questions asked" mentality on warranty issues. The trigger on the Omega I bought was surprisingly good (some are better than others, I guess). Break down and maintenance is a dream compared to some black powder rifles.

I spent a lot of time holding rifles, handling rifles, pulling them apart, looking at them. Sadly, the local Gander Mountain wouldn't let me shoot every one, or I would have. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I suggest you ignore the price tags and ask a simple question. What rifle do I want more? Answer that question and the money is secondary.

Greg,
you might want to consider the T/C encore 209x50. It has a big advantage in that you can get other barrels for it and use it for more than M/L season. I have one and really like it. tom

I suggest you ignore the price tags and ask a simple question. What rifle do I want more? Answer that question and the money is secondary.
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Ignoring price tags or best warranties with muzzleloaders means you are side-stepping safety. You need to remind yourself at a gun counter that the item you are about to purchase will ignite with your face touching it with every trigger pull. This industry just had ANOTHER inline incident this week involving a shooter who decided to get the less expensive muzzleloader instead of a better one. The rifle he wanted more at the gun counter gave him a broken nose, fractured cheekbone and 45 stitches to the head when the breechplug threads failed in his CVA Eclipse 50-cal, thrusting the plug and the bolt-action parts in his direction.

I disagree. A higher priced rifle is not necessarily safer than a less expensive rifle. A warranty is great for getting a rifle repaired, but it does not guarantee safety. The T/C Omega manual has a legal disclaimer every other paragraph. CVA issued a safety recall on some inline rifles manufactured in 1995-6. I am not aware of any recent recalls. If there was a manufacturing defect, it would seem an isolated incident since there are thousands and thousands of CVA rifles in use and you are reporting one problem.

It is dangerous to draw conclusions about the safety of a rifle or manufacturer from one reported incident. It is possible the breechplug threads failed because the shooter overloaded the charge, left a gap between the charge and the bullet, jammed the bullet in the barrel, did not tighten or close the plug properly or some combination thereof.

The best analogy is a car. Let's say you hear a guy was killed driving an inexpensive Ford... so does that mean Ford's are less safe than say a more expensive Chevy's? With rifles and automobiles, safety is about 98% operator; 2% manufacturer. Modern inline muzzleloaders, when used properly, are relatively safe. CVA, T/C, Knight and other major companies build decent rifles. When you think about the million of rounds shot through muzzleloaders, the rate of total rifle failure is amazingly small. If someone has data proving CVA riles are less safe than T/C, I'd love to see it. So would the lawyer representing the guy who got the 45 stitches.

Regardless of any "incidents" I'd still go 100% with the Omega... I love mine and wouldn't trade it for a dozen CVAs. Shoots well, super easy to clean, and it's made by a good company with a good warranty. Hard to beat at any price.

I spied a Omega on the rack at Wal-Mart the other day for $330, blued/synthetic of course. Damn good deal IMO. I have yet to hear a Omega owner regret the decision (much less in favor of a CVA).

The Omega is well worth every penny.

I've been considering a ML due to the long season and open boundaries here in NE and had never picked one up until last weekend at Scheels. I was absolutely blown away by how nice the Omega "felt". It totally contradicted my preconceived idea that MLs are unwieldly and awkward. It pointed very well, was much shorter that I had expected and the fiber-optic sights were nice (I did like the sights on the Knight better however).

Don't forget - if your guide is price, you'll enjoy your purchase at the counter but if your guide is quality, you'll enjoy your purchase in the field.... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I own both a T/C woods rifle and a CVA inline. My favorite by far is the T/C. Both shoot real good but the T/C's safety is more to my liking and it just seems to point better. You will not go wrong with either one. Pick one that fits you better or just feels better to you. miles

Well...I made my purchase today. Based on the feel of the gun, reputation of company, and comments here, I brought the T/C Omega. But a Bushnell Banner 3x9-40 scope on it.

Hopefully it will work well for me for deer hunting here in Indiana. Plan on getting out to the range Monday. Not sure yet of the best bullet. For starters, I am going to try the Hornady SST sabot (300) and the Powerbelt 295.

Any suggestions on loads and/or bullets for the T/C?

Thanks for everyone's replies.

Greg

I'm shooting 200gr SSTs and 120gr of loose (no pellets) 777 in my .45 this Fall. I haven't learned to love the powerbelts yet though others seem to favor them.

I've shot Pyrodex and 777 in both powder and pellet form and I've got a strong preference for 777 powder. It seems to clean easier than the Pyrodex and the loose powder is MUCH cheaper than pellets. I worked up loads from 90gr and up to 120; that's where my accuracy seemed to drop off some.

Congrats on the Omega... You'll likely be singing it's praise soon as well.

greg0320, Congratulations, I think that you will be pleased. Both of my guns and my neighbor's Marlin in-line shoot Barnes X bullets better than any other. I use 100 grains of pyrodex and can hit a skoal can at a hundred yards. I have killed several deer and one coyote and one bobcat with them and they did a number on all. I use penny wrappers and fold them over twice and glue the end. Then put in the powder and fold twice and glue again. A wooden clothes pin will hold them until the glue dries. All you have to do is tear open the wrapper and pour in the powder and put you sabot in and seat. Its pretty simple. Good luck. Miles

Since I've never owned/shot a ML before, I'm wondering how do you go about unloading a ML like the Omega? Thanks.

I have not looked at an Omega but the picture in Cabela's looks like you can remove the breech plug and push the load out. I normaly shoot mine. If it has not been shot since it was cleaned, I some times wait a long time to empty it other than removing the cap. I shot my daughters yesterday and it had been loaded for two years. She is going to law school and did not hunt last year. Sure hope she gets to hunt with me this year. miles

While I obviously have not tried this yet, I was told when I purchased it that unloading the Omega consisted of simply removing the breech plug and pointing the muzzle in the air for the powder to fall out. You would then use your ramrod and insert it into the muzzle to push out the bullet or sabot.

Greg

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greg0320, while that could work, I doubt it. When I take the plug out of my Woods rifle, the powder is packed and very hard to get to move. While it is possible to push everything out from the muzzle, it is hard to get it started. miles

This is a question that I've never had to answer for myself... I've always been able to just fire the shot in my locale. I'd assume that you could remove the breechplug and whatever powder didn't fall out could be pushed out with the ramrod and cleaning jag. Pellets would make this kind of thing easier so long as you didn't crush them when loading the bullet... Do make sure to keep the trigger group pointing up to avoid filling it with powder or you could have a mess though.

If you have one already I suppose one of the CO2 dischargers would work as well though I've never had the need.

Once you fire a ML, isn't it almost mandatory to clean it quickly in order to prevent corrosion or was that just with the older style of powder?

That cleaning issue is the main reason I don't already own a ML.... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />